Blog

Do you know what a knockoff is? It’s an unauthorized copy or cheap imitation of the original. There's only one Nike. There’s only one Gucci. There’s only one Rolex. There’s only one Montblanc. Their quality cannot be easily matched or imitated. That’s why they these brand name products are so desirable in the first place!

So it is with vision. An original is soon discernable from an imitation. Too many people and organizations today are getting their visions from someone else’s website, blog, tweets, marketing materials, or conferences.

There are lots of reasons we should not go down this path. Today, I'll give you my my top three:

Three Reasons We Shouldn't Copy Someone Else's Vision

A Copied Vision Seems Less Than Genuine

A Ripped Off Vision just seems less than sincere.. Anyone that’s been around a while and has come in contact with the original can tell where we stole the vision. They can tell who we’re trying to copy. When we are not speaking a vision that God has uniquely put in our heart, our words will tend to lack the two most important features of vision: Passion & Authority.

A Coped Vision Causes Us to Lose Our Voice.

My friend Mark Batterson told me years ago that every pastor of a church in a community must fight to find their unique voice in the community. Why is this community better because we are here? Are we doing or offering anything that no other church is offering? If not, why not just go merge with their church? There are too many copycat churches and too many copycat corporations. Being unique helps us find our voice in the community!

A Copied Vision Is Easier To Quit On.

When we haven’t gone through the grueling process of wrestling down God’s unique vision for us, when that vision is questioned or even attacked, we have no clear reference point of confidence to stand on. We will tend to give up more easily on a vision that isn’t uniquely ours. While there’s nothing wrong with being inspired by others, or learning from others, there is a problem with copying a pre-existing vision: we simply won’t protect a knockoff—a vision that’s not ours.